The Hottest Male Korean Celebs Who Can Speak Fluent English (With Video Proof!)

We gotta admit, as much as we love our oppas saying "gajima” (don't go) or “saranghae” (I love you), there is just something attractive about them speaking English. In case you didn't know, unlike Singapore, South Korea doesn't have an official second language taught in school. Instead, students can learn English, Japanese or Mandarin. Which is why we can’t help but be awed by these Korean male celebrities who speak English.

Here are the male Korean celebs we want to have an English conversation with. A few of them picked up the language on their own, and their success makes us want to learn a new language ourselves!

Park Bo-gum

Born and raised in Seoul, the Record of Youth actor surprised fans by speaking fluent English during a fan meet in the Philippines. His efforts to communicate with international fans definitely impressed the crowd, especially as he came onstage with a translator in tow. The 31-year-old heartthrob spoke in English for almost the entire two-and-a-half hour event, where he also sang and danced to BTS’ hit song “Boy With Luv”.

Check out this sweet video.

Cha Eun-woo

Bet you didn’t know that Cha Eun-woo could speak English! Although we haven’t seen him playing roles that required him to deliver English lines, he has demonstrated his fluency in the language during his fan meetings outside of South Korea, such as Manila. And while we’re on the topic of the Philippines, one reason for the actor’s fluency is because he studied English in the Philippines for six months when he was 11! We guess early childhood education really helps (time to enrol your kid into the language course, we guess)!

Watch this compilation video of him speaking English.

Lee Seung-gi

Not a lot of people knew that Lee Seung-gi (Vagabond, A Korean Odyssey) was fluent in English until he filmed Sisters Over Flowers, where he expertly navigated the cities of Istanbul, Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik while leading a group of veteran actresses. After receiving praises from netizens, his company revealed that he has been regularly picking up English, but that he’s more fluent in Japanese – apparently, he speaks Japanese like a native! 

Watch this clip of Lee Seung Gi speaking English on an episode of Master in the House.

Lee Byung-hun

The Squid Game actor revealed in a previous interview that he started learning English when he was younger because of his relative in America.

He started sprucing up his skills when he made his Hollywood debut. He told Korean media at the press conference for G.I. Joe: Retaliation that acting in English was difficult and different from speaking English.

He added that when one of the staff pointed out a mispronunciation, he ended up focusing on pronunciation instead of acting.

Watch this video of him showing off his English skills in the interview for The Magnificent Seven.

Gong Yoo

Although he has never studied in a foreign country, Gong Yoo is pretty fluent in English. The 45-year-old actor is self-taught, and his pronunciation and diction do not reflect that (in short, he is the person we all want to be). In fact, he even had a radio show when he was serving in the army, where he taught basic conversational English through scenario-based lessons.

He also nailed a full BBC interview in English, impressing everyone! While we don’t have a clip of the interview, this is a clip of him speaking English for a Louis Vuitton ad.

Choi Woo-shik

In 2019, Parasite made waves in the movie industry and Choi Woo Shik, who played the lead male role, gained more popularity for his acting. You might have noticed during interviews that he speaks fluent English. This is because he spent his school years in Canada.

In an interview in 2012 with Star English, he shared that he had to learn English when he moved to Canada at 10 years old. He shared that he finds it hard to be bilingual because he thinks in Korean and has to translate the words to English before speaking it, which, in our books, is very relatable.

Watch this video of him speaking English for a Netflix interview.

Ahn Hyo-seop

Actor Ahn Hyo-seop has starred in quite a few notable dramas, including Abyss, where he wowed everybody with his fluent and natural English. More recently, he promoted his other show Dr Romantic 2 in English, surprising fans and netizens alike with his on-point pronunciation.

He picked up the language when he moved to Toronto, Canada with his parents, before moving back to Korea when he was 17-years-old to pursue his dream of becoming a celebrity.

Check out this video.

Sung Joon

Best known for his leading roles in Korean dramas like Flower Band and High Society, the actor and model, can speak English pretty well as he studied in New Zealand and England. But in an interview with 10Asia, the 34-year-old revealed that he’s better at understanding English than writing in English, saying, “People who study in English-speaking countries write good essays, while for me, it’s not like I can pick outstanding vocabulary when I write them”.

Watch this compilation video of Sung Joon speaking English.

Ok Taecyeon

Taecyeon, from K-pop group 2PM, speaks four languages, one of is English (and with an American accent to boot!).

At 10, he moved from South Korea to Boston and remained there until high school. He then moved back to Seoul to pursue his music career. Despite obtaining an American permanent residency while living there, he gave it up in 2017 and chose to serve in the military in South Korea. 

He showed his fluency in English in the 2017 show Suddenly A Millionaire when he went on an American camping trip in Arizona and talked to others in the language.

Check out this video.

Kim Ji-seok

The comedic Seoul-born actor and former boyband member, who shot to fame for his leading roles in romcoms like Another Oh Hae-young, actually has teaching certificates for English and German! The 43-year-old studied in England when he was a teenager, which explains why he’s so fluent in the language. He majored in German at the the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies after his group disbanded, and prior to his acting debut.

Watch this clip of Kim Ji-seok speaking English in K-drama Personal Taste.

Jang Keun-suk

Jang Keun-suk made himself known for his English-speaking skills early on in 2009 when he acted in The Case of Itaewon Homicide and spoke all his lines in English, with Beyond Hollywood praising his performance. The 37-year-old attended a school in New Zealand in his junior high days, where he picked up the language. After completing his military service, he seem to shift focus to his music career, releasing a few singles. He had a web drama in 2023, but other than that, things have been a little quiet on his end.

Check out this video.

Super Junior’s Siwon Choi

The Super Junior Member is often the appointed speaker whenever the K-pop group visits an English-speaking country. His fellow members revealed in a variety show that Siwon tends to slip in English words whenever he’s angry.

During the recent Super Junior concert in Singapore, he spoke to the audience in full English. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing, who was present in the audience, must have been proud to see him be a source of motivation for kids who followed their mothers to the show!

Admire this adorable video of Siwon with his Super Junior bandmates — watch as he switches from English to Korean effortlessly:

BTS’s RM/Kim Namjoon

Judging from how fluent he is, you would have thought the BTS leader has lived in an English-speaking country for at least a few years, but in fact, he picked up the language just by watching the US sitcom Friends!

He told Yahoo Music, “The show is really good. It’s kind of like the show of my life. Firstly, I had no interest, because I could not understand a word. But, my mum thankfully let me watch it in Korean, subtitled. So as I watched the show, and I was into the show — the characters, the love stories. She bought the DVDs, seasons 1 to 10 and I repeated it a dozen times. I think that’s why I learnt English so well. Their speech is clear and easy to understand.”

Watch this video of the rapper delivering an empowering speech at the UN in English in 2018.

Lee Seo-jin

You might recognise the actor from variety shows such as Grandpas Over Flowers, Three Meals A Day and Youn’s Kitchen. He graduated from New York University Stern School of Business, which explains why he’s fluent in English. In Grandpa Over Flowers and Youn’s Kitchen, he was tasked with interacting with the locals because of his fluency in the language.

He’s not just good with languages – he also wears many hats. In 2011, he joined Ask Veritas Assets Management, and was appointed the managing director for their second global contents division. 

Check out this video.

Rain

When Rain enjoyed explosive popularity in Asia, he was offered a leading role in a Hollywood production, Ninja Assassin.

But unlike most actors who broke into Hollywood, he wasn’t fluent in the language. In fact, he honestly admitted that he had only started learning the language, but his performance in the movie impressed moviegoers. His secret to picking up a new language?

He revealed that he practised by talking to himself — he would sit at a coffee shop, ask himself questions and answer them himself.

Fun fact: He learnt English from actor Lee Bum-soo’s wife, who is a professional interpreter!

Watch this interview he did in English.

Shinee’s Key

Although Key was in America for only six weeks for an exchange programme, he continued to learn the language until he became proficient in conversational English.

He is now able to communicate fluently with English-speaking fans, and even the people he works with! On an episode of reality TV show Omniscient Interfering View, he showed off his linguistic skills by giving feedback to Shinee’s American choreographer. When Conan Gray visited Seoul, Key conversed with him in English while showing him around Kwangya, SM Entertainment’s space.

Check out this video for an interview done in a mix of Korean and English.

Yeon Jung-hoon

In his first year of junior high, the actor moved to America to live with his aunt and studied in California, where he attended high school before returning to South Korea for university. He shared a surprising tidbit with everyone too: him being fluent in English was one of the reasons his wife, actress Han Ga-in, was attracted to him.

He said that she had overheard him talking to his cousin, who lives in the US, on the phone and thought he looked charming while speaking the foreign language. The couple had met on set while acting in 2003 drama Yellow Handkerchief, and tied the knot two years later. He was nicknamed the “national thief” for being able to steal the actress’ heart, but in a recent interview, he revealed the one who came up with the nickname was actually himself!

Check out this video.

Gang Dong-won

When the actor was in Singapore in 2018, he impressed the press with his fluency in the language. He told The Straits Times, “I’ve been learning English for the past five years. I wanted to travel by myself and wanted to communicate without the help of a translator. I hope to get a chance to work abroad one day!”

He revealed to 8Days in a 2018 interview that he started learning English step-by-step: he started with books for infants aged 0 to two, and then progressed through the levels. “My English improved until I got to middle school books for teenagers, but it was getting a little too tough to move on from there, so in a way, I think I failed middle school English! (laughs)”.

Watch this video.